I seriously wonder about some FReepers, sometimes. Any other person accused of a crime would be defended by every FReeper as being innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. I've seen whole threads written by men who have been accused of child abuse by ex-wives out to deny them their visitation rights or to wrest more money out of them. These men are rightly indignant, and furious about the unjust accusations that cannot be proven but are never withdrawn.

Yet where are those FReepers when a PRIEST is accused? Where is the presumption of innocence? Suddenly, every accusation becomes a verdict, and not only the accused but his entire organization and all its adherents are held responsible.

I can only wonder what some of these so-called conservatives (who so faithfully defend the Constitution) would do, if THEY were the ones accused! It is a nightmare for any man -- all of you know how even the accusation stains the man forever, even if it is proven false!

Not only that, many here assert that the problems of 30, 40 and even 50 years ago must be tried in the media TODAY!

Remember the Duke rape case? There are more similarities than differences here. The priests are accused, nifonged, and instead of being defended, they are vilified!

What other man of you could stand under the weight of such an accusation trumpeted by the press, and come out whole? None! And such accusations made, LONG after the statute of limitations has passed, sometimes even after the accused is dead and buried for YEARS -- are YOU one of those who automatically, reflexively, spitefully, and gleefully act as judge, jury, and executioner?

Women! What if it were YOUR HUSBAND, YOUR BROTHER, YOUR FATHER, YOUR UNCLE, YOUR SON who was accused? Wouldn't you want the best defense possible? Wouldn't YOU believe in their innocence? Wouldn't YOU help protect your loved ones as much as possible? And yet, YOU JUDGE THE CHURCH FOR DOING WHAT YOU WOULD DO?

EZ to understand. The Church is the Rock of Gibraltar and the leftist secular media simply can’t stand it. All media accounts deliberately leave out the homosexuality or priestly pederasty that has crept into the Church what BXVI called this “filth” or the”smoke of Satan.”

The Church is a hospital of sinners not a hotel for saints. Many of these charges even if true, are from decades ago where proof and credibility are major issues. Yet the left wing media would want due process and civil trials for Muslim terrorists but are quick to condemn alleged child abusers and by extension even the Pope himself. This is how absurd this have come to be.

It seems the only way to defend against such lies is to take it to court...My son was accused of abuse during his divorce by a vengeful female that wanted to destroy him...What happened is it went to court and she had to prove such actions took place and the 3 children were put on the stand...All he told them was to tell the truth...She lost her motion and looked stupid for raising such accusations...I feel sorry for any man that has to go through such things.

Many men have to fight to keep their reputations. The woman involved got so pissed when he had the children baptized she called the priest and threaten to sue the church unless they unbaptized them immediately...Need less to say the priest told him to never stop fighting for his kids...and even showed up in court the day she took him to court for baptizing the children...When her lawyer saw the priest, they decided to not pursue that any longer.

Bless that priest as he was not asked to be in court, he came on his own....

All anyone can do is to fight for their reputations. Knowing how things go, I would never believe it of a priest unless it was proved in court, not in the newspaper..

The church has been attack for 2000 years, somethings rightfully for things, sometimes they were innocent.

Jesus said it would always be that way...don't worry its in God's hands....

I learn the difference between what I should do and what to put in Gods hands...once put there, don't keep taking it back from His hands...

well Christ did say more would be required of the church...His standards are higher. Not to mention the Vatican is in the forefront before the populace of catholic believers and on the world stage much like countries are. When there is a scandal in the leadership of any nation it becomes world news...and the news organizations milk it for all it's worth.

As for people on Fr...I can only speak for myself but it is bad enough for any church to have these crimes committed within them....what adds to this is the victims were youngsters and the perps were of the Priestly kind who covered the crimes.

I have dealt with children and women of all ages who have come out of abusive homes. It is beyond difficult for them to tell, let alone explain what happened to them...for generally there is a threat made. For one in a church it is all the more difficult to come forth...the threats are still given but of a religious nature so the victim feels like they would be betraying God and is made to think that in many cases...or that God will be angry with them. This is why they are not reported...and when they reveal to parents they are afraid of the fallout since it is their church family and Priest.

The very fact today that the victims were discovered or have come forth...and this in full view of the audience should speak volumes of how difficult speaking out would have been when they were younger....everybody would know and the child is full of shame to begin with. As an adult now some have the maturity to deal with the fallout. Others still cannot tell.

It is the covering over of this that is most disturbing for me because leadership was told and still the perps were protected...over and over again....and the victums knew nothing was being done.

On fire for it the last two and have learned so much in the art/lititure/music world from a Catholic perpective in history.

All with common threads so truth is clarity.

Never in our lives have we been interested in such things from a secular teaching.

Point is your right the attacks here since Christmas (and it tends to be the same posters imo)have been obscene.

I assume some form of Martin Luther Protestants who claim to need scripture only for guidance...yet Martin Luther removed what was it 6 books of the Bible and unsuccessfully tried to get a few others removed.

Sad jaw sees.

Keep Praying the Rosary.

I think to stop these attacks those of us that are familar with those doing this on Catholic thread or topics about areas in our faith we should just ignore the repeat anti Catholics.

I have never seen them dirty any of Salvations daily Mass or apologetics threads thus far and I think because she is wise in keeping them closed threads.

If Catholics feel the need to come home or someone is interested in learning about our faith they know we would welcome them into discussion in an educational mode.

It seems even to naive old me the diff between someone earnest in their motives and just out to create chaos on a Catholic thread.

Well most of the time...I know I have misread other Catholics on threads. My mistake.

I am going to try my own idea anyway and not engage or responde to the obvious posters who delight in agitating others.

25
posted on 04/18/2010 10:45:54 PM PDT
by Global2010
(We have De Humanized our Society because we have De Christianize our society. Fr.Corapi)

One of my nephews almost had a similar situation. Fortunately, it never got to that point, the court, as he was able to call his ex on the accusations and fight her prior to it getting to the court/litigation stage. Some aren’t as lucky.

There are real victims out there and this crap just hinders their cases.

I recall the whole Duke fiasco. Some people in my family/friends/acquaintance, figured they were guilty of something so whatever. WTH? So they may have been guilty of something, underage drinking, watching/hiring a stripper, some other type “immoral behavior” so they should be accused and convicted of a crime they didn’t commit?

It makes me wonder and question all these “news” stories we see, with very little factual information provided.

If they are not guilty then it will be revealed in the courts, we would hope, if they are quilty then they should have to pay. If the church is found to have hid their crime then they should have to pay the price....and I truly don’t care if it was twenty years ago...God doesn’t release us from sin just because time has passed...

What I won’t do is play into the role people who were victims are just going after cash cows. It has been the Vatican who has agreed a price in dollars warrents being given...I will stand with them on that and let the courts and those going thru the process determine the severity of the abuse and the appropriate dollars if any for each case. The idea is a penalty for the crime. What I would rather see is jail time.

Isn’t it true, though, that the family and friends suffer along with those who are unjustly accused? And if/when the allegations become public, the accused faces severe financial repercussions: loss of job, loss of home, legal fees to defend oneself — even the friends of those unjustly accused are tarred by the lies.

Things are going well for him, his oldest son came to live with him several years ago and is following in his fathers footsteps and is in the air force....His daughter is doing fine and loves his family, his other son puts all his energy into sports and is awesome...Considering their mother, its a miracle but I always believe it only takes 1 person in a kids life to keep then going on knowing they are loved..

I wouldn't worry about the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit is still in charge and Jesus is just cleaning house. Sometimes the innocent get swept up, thats Gods business and you don't need any high blood pressure because of the media...its good to ignore them and keep walking. Its not good for our emotions to be manipulated by the papers. It gives the evil one an opening. Keep your faith and remember your the only one that controls your feelings...

I know you and I have had words on other articles...I am no longer a catholic, but learned much about what is ours to worry about and what we should leave in others hands...Its God's problem and He is up to handling it..

I have family that are Priests...I’ve been a catholic all my life...known many Priests that are close friends of mine.I’ve never known any of them to abuse anyone. Our Priests have a bullseye on them and the shooter is the devil. Also I have known about the homosexual problem in the church before the scandals broke because of a catholic site I was visiting discovered this info on the net...and gave links...quite shocking, I couldn’t read the entire site and look at the graphic pictures...they also had a Yahoo Chat room, I don’t know if it exists today. Personall I believe our Church is on the road to gethesemane. When I saw the Pope attacked these past couple weeks..reminded me of when Christ was scandalized. All of us too are going to answer to God for our Priests. So many times I have had Priests ask me to pray for them. They need our constant prayers. They are such attacked both spiritually and mentally. They need our prayers. Look at Parish, the Priest, the parishners, divorce, children under the influence of drugs etc? Tells you the Priest needs prayers. A Holy Priest, the Parish flourishes and everyone is Blessed. Our Pope warned we would be going to a smaller church and asked for prayers against the wolves. We have to pray for our Priests to stay Holy, become Holy because without them we would not have the Eurcharist and we couldn’t survive in the world.

When I was a young girl my father told me to not believe anything I heard or read and 1/2 of what I see...he was a policeman and knew that even eye witness's can be mistaken...Its been a good rule to live by when reading the papers...he learn nothing but contempt for reporters...he also said on the ladder of morality, reporters are lower on the ladder than a pimp...a pimp may sell your daughter, mother or sister, but a newspaper man will sell his own mother, daughter or sister for a story.... It sounds crude but thats the way they are...

One last thing...God help anyone accusing a Priest falsely..because when they do, they accuse Christ. Second, I’ve noticed several here at FR say God will sort this out, He will clean house. I disagree, He needs our help, prayer is foremost, but He needs all of us, not just a few to speak up but like the people in the Tea Parties against those Catholics like Pelosi and the Bidens. I’m not silent, I’m contantly calling Bishops. Silence to me is going along with evil.

My husband was a church musician. Although he was a highly educated classical organist, he donated his services to the Church. As a result, we got to know many many priests over the years, and have been greatly blessed by their friendship. My heart goes out to all of them — this is a rough time for our country. May God bless and protect them all, and grant them His consolation, His peace, and His joy.

But you won’t see jail time. It’s not about punishment or justice. It’s about financial gain. It’s about taking down an entity that is reviled by the MSM and others. It’s not even about truth of the accusations. Sure there were some who committed crimes against children. There were some victims. Happens everywhere, in all organizations. We just don’t hear about it much because it doesn’t fit the agenda. And then there’s that little thing about what percentage of the population has been abused/victimized in any way by anyone. And by whom. It’s so much easier to rant against some Institution, especially when that Institution is hated by just about everyone.

Easy targets and all that.

Maybe instead of suing, for financial gain, the victim goes after the person/human, who committed the crime against them.

I don’t think anyone seeks to defend the cover-ups. Former Boston Cardinal Law and Cardinal Roger Mahony are among them. Of course there are others as well. Indeed much of this may have been due to the false hopes of psychotherapy as a cure for priestly pederasty. This is deplorable.

Even the Risen Christ had the scars of his wounds like a wounded warrior returning home to earth from a triumphant battle of good over evil. What is troubling is how some with a sinister agenda are attempting to tarnish the “One, True, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic” Church because of the sins of a few priests overlooking the thousands of other priests and monks and sisters of religious orders, saints and martyrs included, who keep and have kept their sacred vows. The Church as the Body of Christ will always have its scars and indeed it is recognizable by these wounds.

The hidden agenda is to advance the gay and rabid feminist agendas which has corrupted other Christian denominations and have accelerated their demise. Benedict XVI is their bete noir because of his strict orthodoxy, his implacable opposition to homosexuality, and his brilliant theological and philosophical mind that make his adversaries look like latter-day Lilliputians.

In rereading your post it brought something to mind...When my husband passed away (2 decades ago, no sympathy required) I had a large flock of goats and need to get rid of many...I worked with the priest in our little country parish. After much work, we found a priest that worked in the Appalachian /sp. mountains a very poor area between W. Virginia and (whatever state borders it) Senior moment...Father payed for the vaccinations necessary and got the shipper to take the goats to their new home...

He contacted the Michigan Catholic (state catholic paper) and they came out to interview us both for a human interest story...He sat and interviewed us both on the farm for quite a while and then went to the barn to take pictures of the goats...Father and I and one of the kids were in the final choice to run in the paper....We made the front page with a picture...But this reporter took lots of notes as we talked and had no axe to grind, but still make lots of mistakes in the article...

Father called me when the paper came out (about 3 weeks later) and was laughing...He said it was a great story, but I might not recognize the article...it had lots of errors in the story...Don't believe anything you read and 1/2 of what you see...,p. In cleaning out my basement I recently came across the Michigan Catholic with the article. Dated September 28, l990.

Interesting side note. Someone had recently made a anonymous donation to the church and he said he didn't know what to do with the money until I contacted him....The vet, inoculations and trucking was paid for by the mysterious donation...I repaid almost all of it and it went on for someone else need...

The priest in the mountain parish needed a new bell for a mission church they had built, and he found a buyer for the flock but all the gentleman could afford was 1000 dollars for the goats...A thousand dollars was the amount needed for the bell. Somewhere is the mountains of W.Virginia is a little mission church with my husbands name on a plaque that says mission bell donated in memory of (my husband). I could tell you a few other stories about how God works in mysterious ways, but too much typing for tonight already.......

But when it’s child abuse allegations, and there are many different children or former children all accusing the same guy, and even memos and letters about it from higher-ups. . .

we just don’t think they are innocent.

We usually seem to assume robbers and carjackers shot by their “alleged” victims are guilty, too, we don’t say “oh wait and see if they really were breaking and entering.”

Everyone on this board seems to think OJ and Roman Polanski are guilty, too. They aren’t Catholics! Who else? That freaky woman in Vallejo who apparently raped and murdered Sandra Cantu. Although she is not yet convicted.

When that guy in SoCal was picked up recently for raping/murdering a teenage girl - and then another long missing girl’s body turned up in the same location - everybody was assuming he did it. Turns out he is now charged, having confessed in a plea bargain deal.

So don’t assume anti-catholicism.

45
posted on 04/18/2010 11:51:09 PM PDT
by Persevero
(Ask yourself: "What does the Left want me to do?" Then go do the opposite.)

Thank you steelhouse....I think you understand I am not anti-catholic as so many assume very quickly. There are believers in the catholic faith just as there are in other denominations, as well as these crimes. Where ever it happens it should be dealt with and taken out of the church.

I listened to a Priest speak outright clear and concise against this crime and those who enabled it. He wants to see justice done and it was refreshing to here him speak as so. I also believe the pope is doing what he can to rid the church of this..and am sorry the people have to endure the whole affair.

Something like this hit a church I was attending several years ago. The assistant Pastor was having sex with a 12 yr. old girl. We knew the parents. Before the charges were filed the parents and Pastor together went to the assistant pastors home and confronted him. It was difficult to say the least for all. But nobody covered it up and of course the whole church was affected once they learned of it. Sad time to say the least....some families left the church as well. The parents of the church eventually left as well.

I don't think the gay/feminist agenda is hidden at all. It's in site ofor all to see now. It's that people aren't paying attention, as they are infiltrating every area of our life...from churches to school and what is being taught, to political offices etc. And there are more people unopposing than there are opposing. I sometimes feel like we are outnumbered and have become the minority as all these things come upon the church, family and life we have known. Evil is flourishing as if there is no constrait now...

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